The present invention relates to intra-oral imaging of dental surfaces, and more particularly to a dental imaging method and apparatus that obtains three-dimensional (3D) imaging techniques to generate models of dental surfaces.
The accurate and rapid intra-oral measurement of dental surfaces for many purposes, including the production of prosthodontics or dental parts, has been a common goal of dental science. Several systems have been proposed for dental imaging, including a hand-held optical probe using laser and holographic moire techniques and an intra-oral scanner CCD camera that takes multiple images of a tooth illuminated by a striped light pattern.
As is known in the art, tooth reconstruction requires obtaining 3D data that describes the entire surface of the tooth, which includes the chewing surface, the tongue-side area and the cheek-side area up to the gumline. Because a single 3D image taken from a perspective view is usually not sufficient to cover an entire dental surface, it may be necessary to take multiple 3D images of the same dental surface from different viewpoints and then integrate the images together. However, systems that require multiple imaging but cannot obtain multiple images at high speeds require the patient to maintain a fixed position for a long time as the images are taken. Further, image integration is a complex, time-consuming process that does not always provide an accurate representation of the dental surface.
There is a need for a dental imaging system that does not require obtaining multiple images to generate a complete representation of the dental surface.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a dental imaging system that includes an intra-oral probe with a conduit for illuminating the dental surface and a camera for obtaining imaging data as the light rays are reflected from the dental surface. A concave reflector, such as a parabolic or an elliptic reflector, can be used to increase the camera""s field of view so that one image can cover an entire dental surface clearly in a single image.
In a preferred embodiment, the intra-oral probe is combined with appropriate data processing and CAD/CAM hardware and software and numerically controlled fabricating equipment, which would allow production of dental parts on a rapid, on-site basis in the dental practitioner""s office.